Who is really responsible for the problem of terrorism?
Prakash Rao, September 26, 2001

The world is being threatened with a dangerous war of unprecedented proportions following the terrible violence and tragedy inflicted on the people in the US on September 11, 2001. The representatives of the US imperialist bourgeoisie, both Republican and Democratic Party leaders have empowered their President to use force in retaliation against the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. War clouds are darkening the sky as President Bush declares that the US will "hunt down" those responsible and that no distinction will be made between "terrorists and those who harbour them". The US Secretary of State Powell has declared that the US will especially go after "those nations, those states, those organisations, that provide haven for this kind of activity". They are preparing justification for aggression anywhere, against anyone that the US deems "guilty". The US State has prepared an arbitrary list of seven "terrorist" countries; these are Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria. It has also labelled those participating in demonstrations against imperialist globalisation and US-style democracy as "national security threats" and as "terrorists".

As soon as the terrorist attacks took place on September 11, in his first public address, the US President declared that "we are at war". Within 24 hours, before any evidence had even been gathered, let alone analysed, Secretary of State Powell had declared to the press that Osama Bin Laden was the prime suspect. This was followed by numerous telephone calls by President Bush and by Powell to the leaders of various states in the world to solicit support for a military strike, on Afghanistan and other places suspected of harbouring terrorists. Meanwhile Israel, the "bullet" of imperialism in Asia had already gone into action, with military offensive against the Palestinian people in the occupied regions. These actions of the US imperialists and their ally has led to panic among the people in Afghanistan and other countries, with large numbers fleeing their homes fearing attacks.

The US imperialists continue to accuse the Taliban government in Afghanistan of harbouring the suspected Bin Laden. The Taliban Government has responded that it is ready to hand over the suspected Osama Bin Laden provided the US produced some evidence for suspecting him as the guilty party. In the past, the US has unilaterally bombed other countries, such as Sudan and Afghnistan, on mere suspicion; and the "evidence" which they produced after the bombings were exposed as false. In this case, too, the US imperialists have arrogantly declared that they have the right to take immediate action and present evidence later on, whenever they choose.
The horrific attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon do not serve the cause of liberation or progress of any people in the world. This act of organised terror against thousands of innocent people has legitimately enraged many people around the world. People the world over want an end to terrorism and violence. Indeed, if humanity has to be saved then terrorism needs to be fought on a world scale. However, if we want to strike at the root of terrorism, it is necessary to clearly identify exactly who or what is responsible for the problem of terrorism. Then and only then will we the people be able to determine against whom the "war against terrorism' must be waged.

Who is behind terrorism?

The US and other imperialist and bourgeois states pretend that terrorism is a problem created by their enemies, while they themselves are championing the cause of peace and civilised humanity. President Bush claims that some "barbarians" have declared war on the US and its "way of life", which he equates with freedom, democracy and civilisation. This way of presenting the problem is convenient and self-serving for the US imperialists, while it hides what terrorism is really about.
The latest terrorist attacks in New York and Washington showed an extremely high and sophisticated level of organisation. It once again confirmed the fact that terrorism is not the product of some isolated individuals.

Many of the most powerful organisations in the world-including multinational corporations, governments and their official intelligence agencies-fuel funds to sponsor terrorist groups and armed gangs. All the major imperialist powers, without exception, utilise their state both overtly and covertly to 'organise, aid and abet' terrorists groups. Hence, the question as to who is behind the latest terrorist attacks in the US is not merely about identifying the individuals who actually carried out the actions. The question is primarily about identifying the states, parties and/or corporations that financed and sponsored the operation.

It is an established fact that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US finances armed terrorist groups in various parts of the world on a regular basis, as part of its everyday activity. This is the reason why there are so many sophisticated training schools in the US for modern-day terrorists, more than in any other country. One of the aims is to infiltrate communist and anti-imperialist movements. Another un-stated aim is to expand the market for illicit arms. The CIA is also known to organise terrorist crimes so as to divert the people's attention and provide justification for war or for fascistic suppression of people's rights.

It is precisely the CIA that financed and armed Osama Bin Laden at the time when the Soviet Union had its occupation army in Afghanistan. This armed tool that the US imperialists created, in their contention with the Soviet Union, later went out of their control and became a potential tool of their rivals and enemies. Now the US President screams that the whole world must co-operate with his war to eliminate Osama Bin Laden and all those who "aid and abet" his terrorist army. If this logic is actually followed to its conclusion, then successive Presidents of the US and all the "President's Men" must also be brought to book. It is the US state, in particular, and Anglo-American imperialism in general, who are the financiers of thousands of terrorist groups around the world.

It was US imperialism and its agencies that financed and armed Saddam Hussein and his party in Iraq, to prolong the war against Iran in the 1980s. When he turned against them subsequently, the US imperialists called on the whole world to support their war against the "terrorist state of Iraq". In the Arab countries, the CIA and the Israeli intelligence agency, MOSSAD, have perfected over many years, the policy of financing and organising terrorist groups.

The CIA, MOSSAD, and other intelligence agencies of imperialist powers have been extremely active in India, Pakistan, and all other countries of South Asia in fomenting terrorism and counter-terrorism. Specifically, the Indian intelligence agency RAW has collaborated with the CIA and MOSSAD in terrorist operations against the people in the North-East, Kashmir and Punjab under the guise of countering insurgency. The RAW has also been active in setting up, financing and arming terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries of the region.

In Punjab, it was the Government of India and its intelligence agencies that originally financed Sant Bhindrawale as a counter-weight to the Akali Party. The Indian State organised, financed and armed numerous terrorist outfits, recruiting "militants" from amongst hardened criminals. Creating the spectre of the "Sikh terrorist" who allegedly posed the biggest threat to the unity and integrity of India, the Indira Gandhi Government unleashed the assault on the Golden Temple in 1984 code named "Operation Bluestar". That was the beginning of a heightened "war against terrorism" by the central army and paramilitary forces, leading to rivers of blood in Punjab.

The money power of the US seed and food grain trading corporate giant multi-nationals, combined with the power of the Indian central state, stood behind the policy of spreading terror in Punjab. The stepping up of state terrorism in the name of fighting individual terrorism led to a never ending spiral of hatred and revenge seeking, creating a living hell for the broad masses of people who were forever threatened with being caught in the crossfire. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the end of the bipolar division of the world, there is evidence to show that the Indian intelligence agencies collaborated with US and Israeli intelligence agencies to wipe out the terrorist gangs that they had earlier sponsored in Punjab.

In his recent public address to the nation, Prime Minister Vajpayee shed crocodile tears for the innocent lives that had been lost in the Mumbai blasts of 1993. He displayed a very selective memory because he made no reference, for instance, to the thousands massacred in November 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Nor did he refer to the massacre of people in Mumbai and Surat following the demolition of Babri Masjid, nor to the tens of thousands of innocent people who have lost their lives in state organised communal and fascist terror in the past, all over the country. Vajpayee neither confirmed nor denied that the main person accused of masterminding the Mumbai riots (whom Pakistan is alleged to be sheltering) was a valued operative of India's intelligence agency during the war against Pakistan for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.

All over the world, if the real history and experience with terrorism is examined, what becomes clear is that it is imperialism and the reactionary rulers of numerous capitalist states that are responsible for the problem of terrorism. First, the ruling classes organise terrorist groups to infiltrate the people's movements. Then they organise open state terrorism in the name of pursuing the terrorists. The families of the victims of state terrorism, of the indiscriminate violence of the armed forces and police, inevitably become breeding ground for new recruits for terrorist groups that promise retaliation and revenge.

Terrorism is a tool in the hands of imperialism and reaction to criminalise all forms of dissent and opposition to their rule. They serve to depoliticise the broad masses of people, that is to push them out of politics altogether, leaving them in the sidelines or running for shelter from the crossfire.
The struggle against terrorism is the struggle for the politicisation of the people. It must necessarily be directed against imperialism, which is the source of war in modern day society. We must direct the struggle against the entire system of imperialism and against the imperialist policies of the US and other empire-building powers, including the Indian state. Only by waging an irreconcilable war against imperialism and the capitalist system and destroying the imperialist system, can humankind be liberated from the scourge of terrorism. Only then can lasting peace and security be ensured.

The struggle to root out terrorism requires, as an immediate and urgent demand, an end to the policy of state terrorism on the part of the US, U.K., Israel, India and other states. Intervention by the US, India and other states in Afghanistan or any other country, either by overt or by covert means are all acts of premeditated state terrorism It is not possible to eliminate individual terrorism without putting an end to this policy of state terrorism led by Anglo-American imperialism. Bush, Vajpayee and others are calling for a united international effort to combat terrorism. The working class and peoples of the world must say, "Very well, let us start with your governments immediately renouncing state terrorism as a policy; and by dismantling all the terrorist training that you currently sponsor". Sponsors of terrorism cannot be the leaders of a war to end terrorism.

Imperialism is not for peace but for war to redivide the world

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the bipolar division of the world, the leaders of the US and other western imperialist powers claimed that now there would be peace on earth. The end of the "Cold War" was supposed to mean the end of hostility and tension. However, this has not happened. The decade of the 1990s has witnessed heightened tension and war in many places, including Iraq, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kashmir, Georgia, Armenia, Chechnya and other parts of the world.

As the bipolar division of the world came to an end, the old alliances and relations between states developed in the cold war came to an end too. New arrangements based on new alliances had to be built. This period of realignment is also marked by a high degree of instability and dis-equilibrium. The strategy of US imperialism in this new period has been to pursue its vision of a unipolar world with the US as its undisputed leader. However, there has been increasing resistance to and defiance of the US dictate. Such resistance has been growing not only among countries of Asia, Africa and Latin-America, but also in Europe and North America itself. The US pursuit of a unipolar world is clashing with the aspirations of peoples for freedom. It is also clashing with the pursuit of other imperialist powers for a multi-polar world.

There is a serious contention over the question of who will dominate the world. In addition to the big imperialist powers that divided the world into their respective spheres of influence in the 20th century, there are now new aspirants for big power status, such as China and India. Asia, including the region of South Asia, has become a hotbed of inter-imperialist rivalry. It is vulnerable to becoming the next theatre for inter-imperialist war.

In order to understand what really is driving US imperialism and its allies to war at this time, it is essential to grasp that war is a continuation of politics by other means. The pursuit of expanding the space for capitalist monopolies and oligopolies, in the name of globalisation through liberalisation and privatisation, cannot be carried on any longer without war. Given the rising opposition to imperialist globalisation all over the world, including at every international conference and meeting of the big powers or of their financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, imperialism had to find some way to divert public attention and divide the opposition.

The imperialists need war in order to carry forward their next phase of "free market" reforms. They need war in order to find a way out of the economic crisis with their superprofits intact. Imperialism needs war in order to prolong the life of the crisis-ridden economic system on which it is based.
The imperialists need a justification for war. US imperialism is constantly on the look out for things that can be used to justify war. The latest terrorist attacks on September 11 is being turned into the strongest justification for launching the most deadly and prolonged war against the peoples of the world and their struggle for national and social liberation.

In the previous period, when world politics was dominated by the rivalry between the two superpowers, US imperialism used to justify all its aggressive actions in the name of "containment of communism". In the present period when the Soviet Union has disintegrated, US imperialism needs a new justification for war; hence it has concocted the new spectre of the "Islamic terrorist".
The danger of reactionary war in South Asia is being accentuated by the policy of the Indian ruling bourgeoisie at the present time. In pursuit of an imperialist big power status, the Indian rulers think that by collaborating with the US line of waging war against "Islamic terrorists", they can advance their own ambitions of weakening Pakistan and emerging as a big Asian military and economic power. This policy is fraught with disastrous consequences for the Indian people and all the South Asian peoples.

No to the unjust war led by USA!

It is essential at this time for the working class and peoples of all countries to take initiative and strive to come to the centre-stage of politics, to stay the hands of the warmongers. No to the unjust war led by USA! The people are already showing their readiness to go into action around such slogans. The revolutionary and progressive forces must not leave the initiative in the hands of the imperialist aggressors and reactionary warmongers of the world, who are out to drown the struggles of the peoples in blood, in the name of fighting terrorism.

One act of terror cannot justify another. The US does not have the right to aggress on any country of its choice, just as nobody has the right to blow up buildings in the US. The US does not have the right to topple one government and establish another government in Afghanistan or any other country, just as no other state has the right to interfere in the internal politics of the USA.
The US President Bush does not accept the principle mentioned above. In his recent address to the joint houses of representatives in Washington, he has declared that anyone in this world has to be "either with us, or with the terrorists". This is nothing but Hitlerite logic-either agree with me or I shall be justified in blowing up your country. This arrogance of the US imperialists is bound to arouse the anger of all democratic forces in the world.

The US imperialists are threatening all the peoples of the world who do not agree with its war plans, who disagree with the "war against terrorism" launched by the US, that they will be destroyed. Simultaneously, the US has begun building a "global coalition" of imperialist and capitalist states with the G-7 at the center, a political and military alliance against "terrorism" and the states it has declared or will declare in the future as "terrorist". The US President's repeated threat "either with us, or with the terrorists" is aimed at all the peoples and countries of the world who dare to persist in their struggle to determine the nature of the social system that they want in their country. It is aimed at all those who dare to develop their own values and reject the 19th century values of the colonial maraurders. It is also directed at those, such as Russia, Japan and India, who stake their claim for hegemony over other states in their region. It is a warning to all these states to line up behind the US or else!

It is extremely important that the peoples of the world must oppose this "global alliance" that is being created under the US baton. It is also extremely important that the peoples demand that their governments do not join the "global alliance against terrorism". The US plan to launch a war or a military "campaign" in retaliation for the terrorist attacks of September 11 is an extremely dangerous plan. It can and must be foiled by the peoples of the world. The Indian working class and people, including those resident abroad, must contribute their might to stay the hands of the Indian big bourgeoisie in extending support to the unjust imperialist war being led by the US.

The decision of the Indian government to tie India to the war-chariot of US imperialism must be vigorously opposed!

NO to the use of Indian territory or Indian soldiers in this unjust war championed by US imperialism!

The Vajpayee government has told the leaders of the US in so many words that it is absolutely eager to participate in whatever capacity the US thinks fit in the "global war against terrorism" . The Indian Government does not want the military campaign to be restricted to NATO but has actually requested that Indian forces be also included in the war. It has offered airbases and naval facilities in Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat and other places.

India's rulers are whipping up an anti-Pakistan hysteria and exacerbating the tensions arising from the US response to the event of September 11. They are trying to play a game of one-upmanship with Pakistan in pursuit of their own scheme to dominate this region. They are trying to sell their treacherous collaboration with US imperialism as a way to "fix" Pakistan. They are painting the picture that if India participates as a loyal ally of the US in the ongoing "war against terrorism", it will get some "rewards".

Let us not forget that the US is directing its attack in the initial phase primarily against the countries and peoples stretching from Afghanistan, Central Asia and West Asia to North Africa. The peoples inhabiting the countries of this vast region are linked to the Indian people through ties stretching back many centuries Like the Indian people, they too have suffered immensely at the hands of the colonialists and imperialists. For India to collaborate in this war with the US means to commit the basest act of treachery against the fraternal people of Afghanistan.. It means to stab in the back the cause of unity of all Asian peoples against imperialism. Why should the Indian working class and people remain silent in the face of such treachery that will bring a terrible name to India?

The Indian people must be aware that the biggest ground, air and naval mobilisation of armed forces which is being carried out in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, cannot be there merely to deal with the tiny war ravaged Afghanistan, let alone Bin Laden! The US President has repeatedly emphasised that Afghanistan is just the beginning of the war, not the end. He has emphasised that it will be a prolonged war. By the act of inviting US forces into South Asia, the Indian government is guilty of assisting the US imperialists in turning South Asia into the arena of war, for its own nefarious economic and political ends. Afghanistan is just a sacrificial goat in the US quest to dominate the world.

The life experience of peoples all over the world, including in South-East Asia, shows that wherever US army or naval bases were established, they have become a permanent evil in those societies where they were established. US bases were established invariably in the context of some particular war, such as the Korean and Vietnam wars in the case of South East Asia. Once established, such bases have remained forever unless the peoples have risen up and thrown them out. They have become the breeding ground for the massive spread of prostitution and AIDS in many countries of the world. Why should Indians willingly become victims of such disastrous consequences?

Terrorism and modern militarism are vital expressions of capitalism in its moribund stage of imperialism. Terror and military force are used by the capitalist states in their external conflicts and also serve as a weapon to suppress internal dissent. They are used to suppress every kind of movement, economic and political, of the working class the world over.

The Indian people must be organised to block the plans of India's ruling class, along with its "natural' ally the US imperialists, to drown South Asia in blood. The people of India as well as other peoples of South Asia will suffer great tragedies if we do not stop the Indian rulers in their tracks right now.

The times are calling on all peace-loving Indians and people of Indian origin residing in all countries of the world to raise their voices in unison -- against the use of force by the US at this time. They must raise their voice against the Indian government's decision to collaborate with the unjust war led by US imperialism.

"Rooting out terrorism" is only a label, to fool the gullible, while the real motive of the US imperialist alliance is to achieve the political aim of stationing American and NATO troops all over Asia, for the domination and control of Asia.

The peoples of India and the rest of South Asia must reject and oppose this US imperialist led coalition. On the contrary, the working class and peoples of South Asia-of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives-must forge their own anti-imperialist alliance. This new South Asian alliance can and must be forged on the basis of opposing the entire legacy of British colonialism and imperialist intervention in this region, as well as the neo-colonial structures created to keep the peoples oppressed, divided and diverted. Such an alliance of the peoples of South Asia will be a source of strength for building the international alliance of all the peoples against imperialism and imperialist war.

No imperialist alliance can root out terrorism or save the world from a catastrophic war. Only an anti-imperialist alliance of peace-loving peoples, with the working class playing the leading role, can root out terrorism and prevent an imperialist war. The immediate task, around which the anti-imperialist alliance can and must be built, is to resolutely oppose the use of force in international relations, and in particular, to resolutely and uncompromisingly oppose the use of force by the US against peoples and countries of Asia.

It is the working class of all countries that needs to take the initiative in building the anti-imperialist front. Already, workers have come out in mass protests in many countries around the world, in opposition to the US led "war against terrorism". There is a strong basis to build the unity of the working people of all lands against imperialism and the capitalist system, which are the source of war and terror in society. The key to building this political unity is to go into action against imperialism, against the US-led war today.

Our hearts are filled with grief at the tragedy, which the American people have suffered. But the working class cannot stop with mourning for the dead and injured. We have to wipe our tears and prepare to go into battle, against the most monstrous enemy known to human society so far. Human blood and bones are the food on which the imperialist monster feeds. We need to go into battle with the aim of using the crisis created by the war to hasten the end of this man-eating system.